Sierra de Carrascoy

I was lucky enough to find myself at my sister-in-law's place about 10km from Alhama de Murcia with the use of hubby's mountain bike!

First expedition was up through the the farmland behind the house to find a route up the mountain. It was already hot by 11am and my two bottles of water didn't last long. I was also regretting putting slicks on since the tracks were rather stony and rutted, but it made for some excitement on the way back down.

However, the tracks, mostly through citrus groves, proved too numerous and winding to enable me to get as far up the mountain as I'd have liked. I could see the last few hairpins winding toward the top, but was unable to find my way on to them.

This gave me the chance to explore this ruined farm, one of many in the neighbourhood. My sister-in-law's neighbour has his eye on liberating the floor tiles, so I felt I should see what the attraction was. The most amazing part was the barn; whereas the living accomodation was "cottage-like", the barn had huge arches and felt like a mediaeval dining hall. Restoration, anyone??

As a contrast, on the way down I decided to go to the end of the road, about 2km past the house, to show you the motorway – not all the roads are dirt! All the motorways had service roads on both sides, and these were swarming with cyclists last Sunday – can't see the attraction myself, especially with the roads over the Sierra de Espunya beckoning in the distance. Hope I can get to tackle it (up to 4000ft) before I go home.